California 3 foot passing law committee hearing Monday

Update: No committee hearing today for AB 1371; a second reading is scheduled today for the full Senate. Next step is a vote after a third hearing and then, if it passes, the Governor’s desk.

Assemblyman Steven Bradford’s “Three Feet for Safety Act” for California passed the state Assembly last May. The bill has been winding its way through the Senate.

I’m getting contradictory information from the status update for this bill, but AB 1371 is either headed to a second reading on the Senate floor this Monday, or a crucial hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee takes place on Monday, August 12, 2013. Since this is not an appropriations bill, no hearing is required, but just in case…

Senators on the Appropriations Committee are:

Kevin De Leon from District 22 (a big chunk of Los Angeles and other nearby cities)

Mimi Walters, District 37 (southern Orange County, including several beach towns)

If you live in one of these areas, please contact your Senator today to let them know how you feel about the three foot passing bill. Historically, a three foot bill has passed easily through both chambers of the California legislature, but Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed both previous attempts at similar laws. Bradford’s AB 1371 attempts to address the concern Brown brought up in his previous vetoes, which explains some of the convoluted language in this year’s incarnation. You can read the text and status of AB 1371 here. The final vote on the bill occurs immediately after the third reading to the full Senate.